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Project Runway S16 E1 Recap

Like most of my friends who like to sew, I indulge in watching every episode of ProjectRunway pretty religiously each season. Sometimes I even binge watch previous seasons just to get my fix of the creativity and different techniques. I especially like seeing everyone’s process for creating their looks each week. It motivates me.

Here a some of my thoughts from the 1st episode of Season 16.

The Pre-Season Show – Introducing the Cast

S16 started off… with some sort of a bang. If I could sum up the cast in a word, it would be… androgynous. Several members are on the fence when it comes to design aesthetics and design for either men or women with androgynous silhouettes, men in dresses, baggy clothes with no real waistline, dull color palettes in some cases. Aside from that there seems to be a variety of cultures, which comes as no surprise – there’s always lots of culture! I love culture. Overall, I’m impressed with the experience of this seasons’ designers.

Highlights about the cast…

This season features the show’s first set of twin designers, who in my opinion, have similar personal style and design aesthetics too. We’ll see how they do in the competition against each other and if they really do design separately.

There’s definitely a couple of wacky designers in the mix – Chacha & Batani to name a few.

My Personal Favs

Deyonte, Kenya, Amy & Brandon – these guys have everything that I like to see in garments – strong pieces with lush textiles and comfy silhouettes.

Episode 1 – One Size Fits All

In this week’s episode, the crew was told to design to women of all sizes. The variety of size models will rotate week to week, so it seems like everyone will have a chance to design for the “life-size” woman. I love it! Project Runway should have been doing this every year!

The designers expertise vary, so for Brandon, the young super talented designer, designs for menswear… I wonder how he’ll survive in all women’s wear Project Runway… other designers, like Amy, have an edge. Amy is a design professor! Her look, by the way, was one of my favs and should have scored her a seat at the top for the week.

The Top 3

Deyonte’s floral goddess! I loved it – he did a great job with placing the floral pattern just right on his model’s body; he created a figure flattering silhouette that was a great compliment to his model. She looked amazing and you could tell she felt amazing!

Kenya’s Oscar gown was absolutely gorgeous! I love how she paired a slim fitting corset with oversized front pockets. Her look was chic and something fresh. My only thought was… the model couldn’t walk comfortably, which is something that I look for – the comfort level, but in fashion, you’re not always comfortable!

Oddly enough, Brandon’s athleisure look landed at the top 3 this week, even though they were tasked to design for red carpet looks… I thought he came through at the end, but his look was not red carpet ready.

Deyonte ended with the win and I think of the 3 at the top, he deserved it.

The Bottom 3

Katani – I’m not sure why she thought the color combination would work with her model’s complexion or why she picked the fabrics chosen either. It was a complete fail from start to finish.

Chacha – I think he had a decent idea to start with, but his execution with fabrication was completely off. His design aesthetic is weird to me, but I’m sure for someone it’s the perfect self expression…

Shawn – Hmmm… Nina Garcia said it best, with a quote from Carolina Herrera, “you can’t win best dressed with no clothes on…”

Chacha was selected to go home this week and even though I wasn’t a fan I think that the judges got it wrong – Katani or even Shawn should have been on the chopping block to leave. With Katani LYING to Heidi about her garment fail – I think it should have been her.